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Friday, September 7, 2012

Only the final score is different

Predicting the outcome of the first game of the National
Football League season is always more difficult than any other.

Why? Simple. The speed and quickness of the game changes
dramatically between the last exhibition game and the first one where money is
on the line.

Rookies are told about the change, but until they see it,
they have no idea what to expect. Or how to handle it. The game is fast enough
to begin with. For those who get it and know what to expect, it eventually
slows down.

We watch players go through the motions during the
exhibition season. All of which proves absolutely nothing. No way can we tell
based on those performances how a team is going do in the regular season.

How many times have we seen teams go unbeaten in the
exhibition season only to stagger in with a 5-11 or 6-10 record and maybe
worse? And how many times have we seen a team fail to win a practice game and
yet make the postseason with no trouble?

We’ve seen the Browns play four exhibitions, winning the
first two on the road and dropping the final two at home.

One of the road victories was in Green Bay against one of
the best teams in the National Football League. And that proves what? Nothing.
Doesn’t mean the Browns are better than the Packers.

Green Bay most likely will win its division, while the
Browns most likely will once again bring up the back end of their division.

But that first game of the season is always a mystery until
you can record concrete evidence by playing it. Especially if the team you root
for has 15 rookies and another dozen who have played only one season.

But when it comes to opening the season at home, picking the
Browns to lose is a no-brainer. This Sunday at Cleveland Browns Stadium, it
will be no different when the Philadelphia Eagles invade.

Since returning to the NFL in 1999, the Browns have opened
up at home every season but one. That includes the first 11 seasons before
hitting the road for the opener in Tampa in 2010.

Their record in those 13 lid lifters? How about 1-12. The
lone victory was a 20-3 pasting (relatively speaking) of the Baltimore Ravens in 2004.
The Browns finished 4-12 that season, which proved to be the last under coach
Butch Davis.

So it’s not difficult to predict
the outcome of the first game when it comes to the Browns. The only problem is deciding just how badly they
are going to get beaten.

The schedule maker couldn’t have picked a worse rival for
the Browns in this one. The Eagles, everyone’s Dream Team last season, got off
to a miserable start before finishing strong to check in with an 8-8 record.

They underachieved on just about every level, placing coach
Andy Reid’s job on the line this season. Reid is a players’ coach and the theme
this year should be retribution, if it already isn’t.

The Eagles are an abundantly talented team and should have
no problem handling the Browns. They did so with relative ease just a few weeks
ago in the third exhibition game of the season.

In that one, you’ll recall, the Eagles’ pass rush dropped
Cleveland quarterback Brandon Weeden three times and introduced him to the
strip sack, NFL style.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Eagles this week welcomed back
defensive end Jason Babin, who sat out the exhibition season with an injury.
Handling Babin, coming off an 18-sack season, will be rookie offensive right
tackle Mitchell Schwartz.

The reality is Browns coach Pat Shurmur has no idea what to
expect from his troops. Weeden hasn’t taken a snap since the first half of the
Eagles exhibition on Aug. 24. And since he did not play the final exhibition
game, that’s 16 days between games.

A lot of rust can build in that period of time, especially for a quarterback who relies on timing. Never mind
that he’s been practicing during that period. He’s been practicing against his
teammates.

On the plus side, it looks as though top draft pick Trent
Richardson will see the field for the first time since undergoing knee surgery
a month ago. How much he can give, or how effective he’ll be, is another mystery.

Scott Fujita’s return after winning his appeal in the NFL
Bounty scandal is also plus. The Browns are hurting at linebacker and Fujita’s
appearance can’t hurt.

Overall, however, this one promises to be a rout as Eagles quarterback Michael
Vick, also back from an injury, plays pitch and catch with his receivers, and
LeSean McCoy chews up chunks of yardage. Rookie quarterback Nick Foles picked
the Browns apart in the exhibition game, so you can only imagine what the
veteran Vick will do.

It will not be pretty as the Browns disappoint new owner
Jimmy Haslam III and a sold-out CBS as the Eagles undress the Cleveland defense
in a game that will be a laugher by halftime. Only Reid’s compassion for his pals
with the Browns in the second half will make the final score look relatively decent.
Make it:

2 comments:

So did you write this to please the Philly fans? I mean Babin is coming off a calf injury, you know the kind of injury that sideline Hardesty. He also has been limited in practice so how much he can do is a legit question. The difficulty I recognize for the Browns is that Philly DL has depth. So it will depend on T-Richand the Browns OLs run-blocking. You recall they did manage to do that effectively and if (and I think he will be) is good to go then Philly is gonna get hurt from the run attack and that will open up play action for Weeden and the Browns pass attack. Yea, the odds don't favor the Browns but the least you could have done is point out all positives for the Browns because no game is hopeless, else why play the game.